Musical instrument



Nov. 3, 1959 J. B. DELLA LIBERA 2,910,906

MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Filed 'July 1, 1957 INVENTOR Giza/2502110 libel zz.

United States Patent MUSICAL INSTRUMENT Juan B. Della Libera, Havana, Cuba Application July 1, 1957, Serial No. 669,410

2 Claims. (Cl. 84-170) This invention relates to musical instruments and more particularly to a combination string and wind instrument whose string and wind tones are in harmony and are simultaneously produced by a player.

The invention contemplates the integration of any string instrument adapted to be played by hand, such as the guitar, mandolin, violin etc., with a wind instrument such as the harmonica or accordion.

The primary object of the invention is to combine a string and wind instrument in such manner as to produce a single instrument which may be readily played by a skilled player of the corresponding string instrument without the need to know or learn special techniques normally associated with the playing of the corresponding wind instrument.

Another object of the invention is to combine a string and wind instrument in such manner as to permit its player to produce string and wind tones simultaneously, in harmony, and for substantially the full range of the musical scale.

A further object of the invention is to provide a harmonious wind note for each string note, and to produce both such notes by merely pressing or fingering the strings in the normal manner.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an integrated string and wind instrument in which the wind tones are led through and amplified by the conventional sound box of the string instrument.

The novel features that are considered characteristic of the invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims. The invention itself, however, both as to its organization and its method of operation, together with additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description of a specific embodiment when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, wherein like reference characters indicate like parts throughout the several figures and in which:

Fig. 1 is a top plan view of the arm of a guitar modified in accordance with the invention to include a harmonicalike wind instrument;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary longitudinal section taken at the head of the guitar arm along line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal section through the arm near its point of attachment to the guitar case, an-l taken along line 3-3 of Fig. 1, and

Fig. 4 is a transverse section through the guitar arm taken on line 44 and omitting the valves and reeds of the wind instrument.

Referring now to the drawing, in which are shown portions of a conventional guitar modified according to the invention to include structure capable of simulating the tones of a harmonica and which has been termed an armonicordo, Fig. 1 shows a mast or fingerboard 5 having a head portion 6 on which are mounted the string tuning pegs, not shown. The opposite end of the mast 5 is secured to the conventional body 7, partially a is hollowed out to accommodate a wind instrument I comb which is similar to an enlarged and modified harmonica comb. In the hollow mast is placed a longitudinally extending bafile 13, substantially parallel to the upper, finger receiving surface of the fingerboard and which divides the mast into lower and upper wind chambers 11 and 12, respectively. The bafile 13 constitutes a plate or musical comb which is pierced by a series of apertures 20, each normally closed by a valve 14 on one side and adjacent which on the other side is secured a short tongue or reed 16. The different reeds are graduated in length or thickness to produce tones when vibrated corresponding to those produced by fingering the strings 9 along the frets 8, and the comb plate 13 includes a sufficient number of reeds 16 to provide a substantial coverage of the musical scale.

The lower wind chamber 11 has a connection tube 17 preferably near the head 6 for entrance of air under pressure. Air may be blown into chamber 11 by the player through a small rubber bag, not shown, similar to the Gaita or to a bagpipe, which is connected to tube 17. Alternatively, a small foot operated bellows may be connected to tube 17 for pumping air into chamber 11. The second chamber 12, at its opposite end, is vented into the guitar case 7 by the passageway 18.

Each valve 14 is formed by one end portion of a lever mounted on a pivot 22 adjacent one of the apertures 20, the other end portion 21 of said lever being ofiset and having an aperture therein. The valve is maintained closed by a coil spring 15 lodged between the offset portion 21 and plate 13. A stud 24 on the plate or bafile 13 is surrounded by and locates the lower end of the spring 15. An actuator button or key 10 is slidably disposed in an opening in the upper surface of fingerboard 5 close to a fret 8. The inner end of the key 10 engages the valve offset portion 21 and has a locating pin 23 protruding through the aperture in the portion 21 and is surrounded by the spring 15. Thus, the pin 23 locates both the key 10 and spring 15 relative to the portion 21 and the spring 15 biases both the key 10 outwardly and the valve 14 to closed position.

When the key 10 is depressed by the pressure of a finger applied to the string at the fret, the valve 14 is turned against the pressure of spring 15 to open the aperture 20 for passage of air from chamber 11 to chamber 12. As shown in Fig. l, a series of keys 10 are aligned closely adjacent each fret 8. Each key 10 directly underlies a string 9 and overlies a valve 14 to control flow of air through an associated aperture 20 and one or more reeds 16 adapted to sound a note in harmony with the particular note being fingered on the string at the key.

To play the combined string and wind instrument, the player merely fingers the strings at thefrets with his left hand while plucking the strings with his right hand exactly in accordance with conventional guitar playing technique. At the same time, he pumps air into chamber 11 through tube 17 by blowing into the rubber bag or foot pumping the bellows, whichever may be supplied with the instrument. Each time a finger presses down on a string at the fret it will also depress an adjacent key 10 which opens the corresponding valve 14 and permits passage of air from chamber 11 to chamber 12 through the opened aperture 20. Such passage of air vibrates the adjacent reed 16 to simultaneously sound a tone in harmony with the associated string note. The reed tone is: carried through chamber 12 and passage 18 into the resonant sound box 7 Where it is amplified and from thence exits to the exterior through the conventional opening in the guitar case. In this manner, a trained guitarist may play the instrument, producing combined and pleasing harmonious string and wind tones without additional training or effort except that involved in blowing or foot pumping the necessary air into the instrument.

Although a certain specific embodiment of the invention has been shown and described, it is obvious that many modifications thereof are possible, The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted except insofar as is necessitated by the prior art and by the spirit of'the appended claims.

What is claimed and desired to besecured by Letters Patent is:

1. A combination string and wind musical instrument comprising a resonant body, a hollow arm extending from said body With one wall of said arm constituting a fingerboard, at least one string extended over said body and fingerboard, a baffle within said arm and dividing the interior of said arm into two chambers, means placing one of said chambers in communication with the interior of said body, means for supplying air under pressure to the other of said chambers, said baffie having a plurality of apertures, a valve normally closing each aperture, means associated with said apertures for producing different musical tones by passage of air through 4 said apertures, and actuating means ,for moving each of said valves to open an aperture and operable by placement of a finger of the player on said string in an appropriate position on the fingerboard to form a musical note.

2. A combination string and wind musical instrument comprising a resonant body, a hollow arm extending from said body with one wall of said arm constituting a fingerboard, strings longitudinally extended over said body and fingerboard, a longitudinally extending baffie within said arm and dividing the interior of said arm into two separate chambers, a plurality of openings in said bafile, a valve for each opening, springs biasing said valves to normally close said openings, a plurality of actuators for respectively opening said valve against the pressure of said springs, said actuators extending through the fingerboard at positions corresponding to those adapted to be taken on said strings by the fingers of a player a on 'said fingerboard when fingering notes of the musical scale, means for forcing air into one of said chambers, a plurality of reeds each positioned in one of said chambers adjacent one of'said openings and adapted to be vibrated by passage of air through the opening to sound a note in harmony with that being fingered on the string by the finger of the'player striking the actuator for opening the valve associated with the respective opening, and means for leading air and reed sounds from the other of said chambers into the resonant body.

7 References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

